The 1904 Herero/Nama genocide in South-West Africa has the dubious distinction of being the world’s most forgotten and denied genocide of modern times. Outside of southern Africa, it’s often not even a footnote in history books. Rather than being dismissed as a fading memory or a mere historical fact, the genocide should be remembered – not only for the victims but for the impact it had on the country that was to become Namibia. In shifting population balances, the genocide created new majorities and minorities, undermined traditional authorities, severed an entire generation from its past and permitted the rewriting of the country’s history. But even in Namibia, the genocide has little significance today for the vacationers camping on the rocks of Shark Island, where Herero and Nama prisoners were starved and worked to death. Or for the tourists riding their four-wheelers or trekking across the veld, where the bones of thousands of Herero remain scattered just beneath the surface. Or for the farmers who inherited land stolen from the tribes. Some of what was lost can never be restored. But we can, and we must, make sure that this genocide is no longer forgotten.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Aug 2013 20:01:17 +0000
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